Understanding Jess
by Kelley2
Summary: When Jess returns to Stars Hollow for his car he brings someone with him who helps Rory and Lorelai understand Jess... Jess & Original Character
1. Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or Jess. If I did, I wouldn't share.  
Author's Note: This takes place during "Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels," but I rearranged a few things. This story popped into my head when I heard that Jess was going to be back for a few episodes this season.  
  
Part 1: Welcome Home  
  
"Are you still hung up on her, Jess?" Lorelai asked angrily. "Is that why you came back?"  
  
While Lorelai continued ranting, Jess avoided looking at her as much as possible. Then he noticed a bus pulling up to the bus stop, and the girl who had just gotten off the bus. "Finally!" he exclaimed as he stepped around Lorelai, and went over to her.  
  
Lorelai shook her head in confusion. "Okay. What just happened here..." She turned around just in time to see Jess kissing some girl who had just gotten off the bus. She had blonde curly hair, and was wearing low-rise jeans, a black v-neck shirt, and a black leather jacket that looked like Jess'. Okay, now Lorelai was really confused.  
  
"What took you so long?" Jess asked after he had kissed her hello.  
  
"Hey, you try getting this much money in the middle of the night," she replied handing him an envelope.  
  
Jess opened the envelope and started counting the money. "How'd you get it?"  
  
"I was standing outside our apartment and some guy offered me $500 to sleep with him," she answered completely serious.  
  
Jess looked up at that point and saw her trying not to smile. "You're not funny, Em." He shook his head as he turned and started walking down the street.  
  
Emma rolled her eyes and caught up with him as he walked towards the diner. "Come on, it was a little funny." Jess took her hand and laced their fingers together. He looked at her, silently asking the question again. "I borrowed it from Michael," she finally answered.  
  
"Oh, great." Jess sighed. "Your brother hates me."  
  
"He doesn't hate you," she replied for the millionth time since they had met. "But, speaking of my brothers, Mark fixed the sink last night." Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out a plain silver ring. Jess took the ring and put it on the ring finger of his left hand. He reached for her left hand, rubbing his thumb over the matching ring on her finger. Then he looked at the door to the diner.  
  
"Liz is here," Jess said looking back at Emma.  
  
"It's been six months, Jess. It's time to tell them."  
  
"They're not going to be happy, Em."  
  
"Since when do you care what they think?" she asked.  
  
Jess sighed and opened the door. "Let's get this over with."  
  
Luke and Liz were sitting at the table talking when they entered the apartment. They both looked over when they heard the door open. Liz stood up and hugged Jess.  
  
"Hi, baby. Emma? What are you doing in Stars Hollow?" Liz asked.  
  
"I just brought Jess some money for the car," Emma explained.  
  
Jess led Emma over to the table where Luke was still sitting. "Em, this is my uncle, Luke. Luke, this is Emma," Jess introduced them.  
  
Luke sat there in shock and confusion, although he wasn't sure which emotion was stronger at the moment. So, this was Emma. He had to admit, even if it was only to himself that after everything he had heard about her from Jess and Liz, she wasn't what he had expected. Although, he wasn't really sure what he had been expecting.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Emma," Luke finally said.  
  
Emma smiled. "It's nice to meet you, too," she answered as she, Jess, and Liz sat down at the table.  
  
"Um," Jess started, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over them. "We have something to tell you."  
  
"Oh, God. You're not pregnant again, are you?" Liz interrupted.  
  
"No!" Emma and Jess answered at the same time.  
  
They looked at each other and Jess squeezed her hand under the table before taking a deep breath and blurting out, "we're married."

To be continued...


	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
They looked at each other and Jess squeezed her hand under the table before taking a deep breath and blurting out, "we're married."  
  
Liz and Luke both sat in shock for a moment. Luke spoke first. "When?"  
  
"Six months. We've been married for six months," Jess answered as they moved to hold hands on top of the table. Liz and Luke saw their wedding rings for the first time.  
  
"Were you pregnant? Did you get married because you were pregnant?" Liz asked quietly.  
  
"No," Emma replied frustrated, "I haven't been pregnant since the last miscarriage."  
  
"Then why? Why did you feel the need to get married? You're only 19 years old!" Liz ranted surprising Jess. He had known she wouldn't be happy, but he didn't think she would actually start yelling at them.

"Are you serious!?" Jess stood up yelling. "You were 18 when you married Jimmy! And 19 when I was born! And you know what else? I don't even know how many times you've been married." Jess turned to Luke who still hadn't said a word. "And you, you got married and you don't even live with your wife! So, I don't think either of you have the right to criticize our marriage!" Jess stopped yelling and looked at Emma who was leaning on the table with her head in her hands. He held out his hand to her. "Let's go."  
  
Emma took a deep breath and looked up at Liz, who had started yelling again, and Luke, who still hadn't said a word. Then she reached out and took Jess' hand, and walked towards the door.  
  
Jess stopped at the door, and looked back at Liz and Luke. "Because we love each other," he said calmly. "That's why we got married." Then they turned around and left.  
  
"I can't believe her!" Jess yelled when they reached the street. He released Emma's hand and started pacing, while Emma sat on the diner steps.  
  
"Jess, baby, you need to calm down," Emma pleaded.  
  
"Calm down? You want me to calm down?!" Jess ranted as he continued pacing. "I'm sorry, but I don't exactly feel like CALMING DOWN AT THE MOMENT!"  
  
"Jess, stop it!" Emma yelled as she stood up. "I'm not your mother, I'm your wife! So, don't take it out on me." Emma sat back down on the stoop and put her head in her hands. Jess stopped pacing and looked at her. He kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his.  
  
"I'm sorry, Em. Baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Jess looked into her eyes and saw the tears threatening to fall. "I love you," he said matter-of-factly as he kissed her hands. "I love you more than anything in the world. I don't care what they say or think. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Jess leaned in and kissed her when she started to smile.  
  
"I love you, too," Emma whispered as Jess pulled away from her.  
  
Jess stood back up and pulled Emma with him. "There's a bookstore down the street. We could kill some time there. Do we have any money?"  
  
"Uh, yeah. I think I have some cash in my..." Emma said as she looked around her. Where was her bag? "Damn."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My bag," she said sighing, "which I left upstairs."  
  
"Please, please tell me you're not serious," Jess begged, hoping she was kidding.  
  
"I wish." Emma laughed. "I'll go get it."

"No, just forget about it." Jess had started pacing again. Wonderful.  
  
"I can't forget about it. My wallet is in there. Our checkbook, my sketchbook, and you put the money for the car in there. Go on to the bookstore, I'll meet you there."  
  
"Okay." Jess shook his head at the look on her face. "I'm calming down," he said trying to convince both of them. He turned around and started walking down the street.  
  
Emma turned and looked at the diner door. She took a deep breath and went back inside.


	3. Part 3

Part 3  
  
Luke still hadn't moved from the table. At the time he had been shocked by Jess' declaration. Although, now that he had had time to process it, he didn't know why. Somehow Jess and Emma always seemed to end up together. Ever since they were 15...  
  
"I forgot my bag."  
  
Luke looked up at Emma standing just inside the apartment door. "Come on in, Emma." He paused, then added as an afterthought, "Sorry about Liz."  
  
"Where is she?" Emma asked as she walked towards the table where she had left her bag.  
  
"In the bathroom. Calming down."  
  
Emma smiled. "Now do you see why we waited six months to tell her?"  
  
"Yeah." Luke nodded. "I understand."  
  
They were silent for a moment. "We wanted to tell you. Jess wanted to tell, but we didn't want Liz to find out. We knew she wouldn't...take it well."  
  
"You think?" Luke asked sarcastically. They both looked around the apartment in a moment of awkward silence. Luke finally looked at her again. "Congratulations."  
  
"Thank you," Emma said smiling. "Jess is waiting."  
  
Luke nodded. "Come back later. The three of us will talk."  
  
"Okay," Emma replied before she left.  
  
Luke looked at the closed door for a minute before yelling to Liz that he was going down to the diner. Entering the diner he saw Lorelai sitting at the counter.  
  
"Who is she?"  
  
"Who?" Luke asked confused.  
  
"The girl who got off the bus. The girl Jess was kissing. The girl who just left your apartment," she said calmly. Too calmly.  
  
Luke looked around the diner and was grateful to see that Lorelai was the only one there. "She's...his wife," he said for the first time. It sounded so strange to him. Jess was married. He had a wife. Jess was somebody's husband.  
  
To say that Lorelai was shocked would be an understatement. That was probably the last thing she had expected to hear. "Uh...what...when?"  
  
"They've been married for six months."  
  
Lorelai snorted. "What'd he do? Marry the first girl he met?"  
  
"Actually, they've been together on and off since they were 15."  
  
"Define 'on and off.'" Lorelai was getting mad again.  
  
"Well," Luke started as he poured her a cup of coffee. "If he wasn't here, then most likely he was with her."  
  
Lorelai gave him a questioning look, and Luke made the decision he had been putting off since Jess had come to live with him.  
  
"They met when they were 15, and from I understand it was love at first sight. And I get the impression from Liz that she thought they were too serious, too fast." Luke paused for a moment before continuing. "When they were 16...Emma got pregnant. She miscarried at three months, and I think they were more scared by the miscarriage than the pregnancy. For Liz, it was the last straw, and she sent him here."  
  
Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. "You let Rory date him when you knew that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant! I trusted that you would look out for her. How could you not tell..."  
  
"Lorelai!" Luke interrupted. "She's been pregnant twice that I'm aware of, and she was on the Pill both times."  
  
"When was the second time?"  
  
"When Jess went back to New York after he and Rory were in that car accident. She miscarried again, and then last spring...Do you remember when Jess kept disappearing?"  
  
Lorelai nodded.  
  
"He was in New York with Emma. She was in a car accident. Her parents were killed, and her brother broke his arm and was pretty bruised. Emma...Emma was unconscious for a week...and they weren't sure she would ever wake up. Jess never left the hospital. Her left leg had multiple fractures, and she had some broken ribs. After that I think they came to the conclusion that all the reasons they weren't together didn't really matter anymore." Luke stopped and looked at Lorelai for the first time since he started talking about the accident. She had tears in her eyes. "What? What are you thinking?"  
  
"I....I don't know"  
  
"Now do you understand why I kept giving him so many chances?" Luke asked.  
  
"Yeah." Lorelai smiled and then stopped smiling as something occured to her. "Rory doesn't know about any of this, does she?" she asked quietly, although it was more of a statement than a question.  
  
"I doubt it. He didn't like to talk about her. I think it hurt him more than he ever let on, so he just...didn't talk about it."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "I should go find Rory. Tell her a story."  
  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"  
  
Lorelai stopped at the door. "I'd rather have her hear it from me instead of one one the town gossips."  
  
Luke nodded as he watched her leave. 


	4. Part 4

Part 4  
  
"Jess?" Emma called as she entered the bookstore.  
  
"In the back," Jess replied.  
  
Emma nodded at the person at the counter and headed towards Jess' voice. She found him in the back sitting on the floor reading.  
  
"What're you reading?" she asked smiling.  
  
"The most boring book ever written." He finished the page, closed the book, and put it back on the shelf before looking up.  
  
Emma reached out to help him up. "So, I talked to Luke."  
  
"Yeah?" Jess asked as he stood up.  
  
"He said to give about half an hour to deal with Liz, then he would like to talk to us."  
  
"Great," he sighed.  
  
"I think it's okay."  
  
"Yeah?" He reached up and moved a curl out of her eyes and behind her ear. Emma nodded nodded as Jess stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She automatically rested her arms on his shoulders and leaned back against the wall behind her.  
  
"You know, we're pretty much alone here. Fairly secluded...we could..." Jess trailed off as he started kissing her neck.  
  
"No," Emma laughed and pushed him away.  
  
"Emma," Jess whined. "Do you realize that last night was the first night we've slept apart in six months?"  
  
"Seven months," she corrected as he leaned towards her and gave a slow, deep kiss. Then he moved back to her neck finding the spot that caused every thought to fly out of her head.  
  
"Jess, stop. We are not having sex in a public place in this town." She felt like she was talking to a child.  
  
"Oh, come on. It wouldn't be the first time," he teased as he leaned in to kiss her again.  
  
Emma put her hand on his chest to stop him. "Yes, but that was in New York, where nobody cared or saw. This is a small town where everybody knows everybody else, and they like to gossip. Not gonna happen, babe."  
  
Jess sighed and rested his forehead on her shoulder. He knew she was right, he could just hear the gossip. "Fine." Suddenly he lifted his head, looked at her with a mischievous smile, and asked, "can we make out?"  
  
A similar smile appeared on Emma's face as she answered, "okay."

Rory entered the bookstore and handed Andrew a list of books she was having a hard time finding before heading towards the back of the store. She was surprised to see a couple kissing in the back row. She was even more surprised when she realized that it was Jess and some girl she had never seen before. Rory backed up to leave and bumped into one of the shelves, knocking over some books.  
  
Jess and Emma pulled apart and straightened themselves out before turning to see who had interrupted them. However, by the time they turned and looked no one was there.  
  
Lorelai left Luke's and looked around for Rory. She remembered Rory saying something about the bookstore, so she headed in that direction. Just as she reached the bookstore Rory came running out, a mix of anger, confusion, and sadness on her face.  
  
Lorelai held out her arms to stop her. "Whoa! What's the matter? What happened?"  
  
"Jess...some girl...kissing..." Rory stammered.  
  
Suddenly Lorelai understood. Rory had seen Jess kissing his wife, only Rory didn't know she was his wife. Lorelai put her arm around Rory's shoulder and led her home. "Let's go home. I need to tell you a story."

"Married? Jess?" Rory asked, speaking for the first time since arriving at home. Lorelai just nodded.

Suddenly Rory burst into laughter scaring Lorelai. Had her daughter finally snapped? Lorelai was very confused. "Okay...what's so funny?"

"Me," Rory answered, still laughing. "I'm 19 years old. I've had two serious boyfriends, and they both married someone else when they were 18." Just as suddenly as she had started laughing she stopped. "He didn't love me. He never did," she whispered so quietly that if Lorelai hadn't been sitting right next to her she probably wouldn't have heard her.

Lorelai put her arms around Rory and hugged her tight. "Oh, sweetie, I think he did. In his own way, as much as he was able to."

"You're defending him?! I thought you hated him." Rory moved away from her mother.

"I'm not...I didn't...I'm not defending him," Lorelai finally said. "I just...I think I understand Jess a little better now. When he first came here he was hurt. Both his girlfriend and his mother thought it would be a good idea if he went away for awhile. He had a broken heart, and he wasn't about to trust it with anybody. But he let you in."

"And then he left me to go back to her."

Lorelai laughed. "It's like those sayings and cliches. 'You don't get to choose, you just fall.' 'The heart wants what the heart wants.'"

"And his heart wanted her," Rory said sadly.

"Yeah." Lorelai was quiet for a few minutes. "I think, based on what Luke said, that Jess and his wife have always known what they wanted. Luke said that they wanted to get married when they were 16."

"Why didn't Jess tell me any of this? Did he think I wouldn't understand?"

"Honestly, I think it just hurt him too much."

Rory stood up and headed for the door confusing Lorelai. "Uh, where are you going?"

"To find Jess."

"Uh, sweetie, I don't think that's such a good idea," Lorelai warned as she followed Rory to the front door.

Lorelai stared at the closed door for a few minutes after Rory left before heading into the kitchen. Opening the freezer door, she said to herself, "I better get some ice cream. I think we're gonna need it."


	5. Part 5

Author's Note: By the way, for the purposes of this story the episdoe Keg! Max! never happened, or if you prefer just Rory went to the party. Jess didn't go, he was missing again.

Part 5  
  
Luke looked at Jess and Emma amazed by how different Jess was with her around. After entering the diner a few moments ago they had sat at the counter while Luke got them something to drink before he started asking questions.  
  
"Where did you get married?" he asked.  
  
"City Hall. In New York," Jess answered.  
  
"Liz said you were in California."  
  
"I was. For a while," Jess replied.  
  
Luke shook his head and sighed. He was exhausted. "Why did you two feel the need to get married? You're only 19," he said calmly.  
  
"We wanted to get married when we were 16. We waited three years, Luke. Did you really think we were going to wait any longer than necessary?" Jess looked at Emma and took her hand. "Especially after last spring," he finished quietly.  
  
Luke stood there quietly while his thoughts were racing. In some ways he envied them, they had always known what they wanted. They had always wanted each other. He also knew how hard it had been for them to be together. Luke guessed it must have been slightly disturbing to be 15 years old and know that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.  
  
"I guess I had hoped you would wait until you were older. Or that I would at least be invited to the wedding."  
  
"You were still on your cruise," Jess answered smiling.  
  
"You could've called and told me." Then Luke surprised them by joking, "Or sent me a postcard. 'Hey, Luke. I'm fine. By the way, I got married. Jess,'" Luke finished smiling. "Are you... How're you doing?"  
  
Jess smiled. "We're broke. We live in a crappy apartment with Emma's brother. And...we've never been happier," Jess finished, looking at Emma who was smiling, too.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Jess was shocked. Luke was surprisingly calm. Too calm. Jess and Emma shared a confused look.  
  
"Okay," Jess started. "Why are you so calm? Why aren't you...I don't know...yelling or something?"  
  
"Because now that I've had time to think about it, I'm not really surprised."  
  
Now Jess was even more confused. "You're not?" He looked at Emma who looked just as confused.  
  
"No, I'm not. I know how you two are. Besides, you're already married; I can't really do anything about it now. Honestly, I don't know why Liz was so surprised."  
  
"So, you're okay with this?" Jess waved his hand between Emma and himself.  
  
Luke leaned on the counter behind him and crossed his arms. "Well, I wish you had waited until you were older, but...you were right. Liz and I have no right to criticize your marriage, not with our marriage record." Luke looked around at the empty diner. "I'm going to go upstairs and try to convince your mother that this is okay. Watch the diner?" Jess nodded and Luke turned around and went upstairs.  
  
"So..." Emma started as she looked at Jess.  
  
"So..." Jess still looked incredibly confused. "That went well. Too well. Something must be horribly wrong."  
  
Emma stood and wrapped her arms around Jess' shoulders from behind. "Stop being so pessimistic."  
  
"I'm not being pessimistic." He turned around so he was facing her and pulled her onto his lap. "I'm being realistic." Jess rested his chin on her shoulder and sighed as he saw Miss Patty and Taylor approach the diner. They stopped when they saw Jess and started pointing and talking before walking away. "I hate this town."  
  
"Then why did we come back here? We can't afford the car."  
  
"I know, but...it's mine, and Luke had no right to take it."  
  
"I agree with you, Jess, but..." Emma paused and sighed. "What are we going to do with it? We can't afford the insurance, so we can't keep it. And you said it yourself; it's a piece of junk. No one in their right mind would buy it."  
  
"What about Mark? Would he help?"  
  
Emma snorted and laughed. "Yeah, like Mark has any money."  
  
Jess sighed. "I'll figure something out." He looked out the window to see Rory standing there watching them. "Great."  
  
Emma looked at him confused and he gestured towards the window with his head. Emma looked over and saw a girl watching them. "Let me guess...Rory?" Jess nodded and rested his head on her shoulder. "Go talk to her."  
  
"Huh?" Jess looked up at Emma.  
  
"Go talk to her. It's time to tell her the truth, Jess." Emma stood up and pulled Jess off the stool.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Go." She pushed him towards the door. He looked back at her and smiled before leaving the diner, and facing Rory.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Rory looked up, surprised to see him. She hadn't seen him leave the diner, she had been too busy looking at...his wife. How did this happen?  
  
"Hey," she finally replied.  
  
"Can we down and talk?" Jess asked breaking the awkward silence. Rory nodded and they walked over to the gazebo and sat down.  
  
"So, that's your wife?" Rory asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah, Emma. How did you know?"  
  
"Luke told my mom."  
  
"Oh." Jess was quiet for another minute. "I never meant to hurt you," Jess said quietly. Rory snorted and Jess shook his head. "I didn't. I did love you. I do love you, but...I'm in love with her."  
  
"You lied to me."  
  
"I know," Jess whispered. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Why, Jess? I don't understand why you didn't tell me about her. She was obviously a big part of your life."  
  
Jess sighed as he tried to figure out how to explain it to her. "You were...what, 15, 16 when you met Dean?"  
  
"Yeah," Rory answered, confused. "So?"  
  
"What was the first thing you thought the first time you saw him?"  
  
Rory was confused by the question but thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I can't remember."  
  
Jess nodded, not really surprised by her answer. "The first time I saw Em, we were 15. My best friend, Mark, is her brother, and for some reason or other we had never met. One afternoon we went to Mark's place to watch a movie, and there she was sitting on the couch sketching. She looked up at me, and I was gone. My first thought was 'I'm gonna marry this girl. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with her.' Do you know how...disconcerting that is? Especially when you're 15? The most amazing thing was that she felt the same way."  
  
Rory had been watching Jess the whole time and was pretty amazed herself. He was lost in the memory and looked happier than she had ever seen him. This didn't look or sound anything like the Jess she knew.  
  
"When Em got pregnant," Jess continued, "we were actually kind of happy, but after the miscarriage...everything fell apart. We were afraid to touch each other. We were afraid it would happen again, but we weren't really afraid of getting pregnant again, we were afraid of another miscarriage. Then Liz sent me here." Jess stopped, and looked down at his hands while he twisted his wedding ring around his finger. "Did your mom tell you about the car accident?" he asked quietly.  
  
"She said that Emma was in a car accident last spring, and that that's where you were," she answered just as quietly.  
  
Jess sighed and wiped a tear away from his eye. "Emma and Mark and their parents were in the car and a drunk driver ran a red light. Emma and Mark were the only survivors. Their father was killed instantly, their mom died a couple of days later. The drunk driver died about a week later. Mark had a broken arm, lots of cuts and bruises. Em..." Jess stopped for a moment. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be. "Em's left leg was broken in so many places that the doctor said shattered would not be an inappropriate term. She'll walk with a limp for the rest of her life. She had some broken ribs, and she hit her head. She was unconscious for a week, and they weren't really sure she would ever wake up." By the time Jess finished talking he was crying, surprising Rory who also had tears in her eyes. "I almost lost her. She almost died in that car accident. I couldn't lose her. I can't lose her."  
  
"So you just decided to leave?" Rory asked still trying to make sense of everything.  
  
"Emma was the deciding factor, but not the only reason. I wasn't going to graduate, and I didn't want to repeat the year. Luke said that if I wasn't in school, then I couldn't stay with him. And...I guess...I didn't want to disappoint you. After the car accident...the decision was made for me," Jess tried to explain.  
  
Rory watched Jess playing with his wedding ring for a few minutes while she collected her thoughts. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This didn't sound anything like the Jess she had known. Although it was becoming clear to her that she had never really known Jess. Not the real Jess anyway.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about her in the beginning? You were here for two years, Jess, and you never said a word about her. I mean, I never even heard her name before today," Rory finally asked.  
  
For the first time since they had started talking Jess looked over at her. "In the beginning it was too hard, it still hurt too much. Then when we started dating I tried to tell you a hundred times, but I couldn't. I didn't know how to talk about it. Suddenly, the person I wanted more than anything told me that she thought some time apart might be good for us. What was I supposed to...I couldn't...she didn't want..."  
  
"Is that what you thought?"  
  
Jess stood up and turned around when he heard Emma's voice, while Rory stayed still and watched them.  
  
"I thought you were gonna stay in the diner?" Jess asked, confused.  
  
"Gypsy called," Emma replied, dismissing his question. "Is that what you thought? That I didn't want you?"  
  
Jess shifted from one foot to the other and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Of course that's not what I...well, what else was I supposed to think? One day we were fine, and then you're telling me we should spend some time apart."  
  
Emma looked at him with tears in her eyes. "All I ever wanted was you."  
  
Suddenly Jess reached out, grabbed her, and kissed her completely forgetting that Rory was sitting there watching them. When the kiss ended Jess reached down and laced their fingers together. "Let's go home."  
  
"Yeah." Emma nodded and wiped her eyes.  
  
They started walking away when Jess suddenly stopped and turned around. "Oh, my God! Rory!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to forget about you."  
  
Rory stood up and smiled for the first time since she found out Jess was back in town. "It's okay," she said as she walked over to them. Then she realized that this was actually the first time she was meeting Emma.  
  
At the same time Jess realized the same thing. "Rory Gilmore, I'd like you to meet Emma Mariano." Jess looked at Emma and smiled. "My wife."  
  
Emma looked at Rory and smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rory. I've heard a lot about you."  
  
Rory smiled and laughed. "I wish I could say the same."  
  
"What did Gypsy want?" Jess asked remembering why Emma came over in the first place.  
  
"Oh," Emma looked at him and smiled innocently. "The car we can't afford won't be ready until tomorrow."  
  
Jess looked at her and shook his head. "Don't start." 


End file.
